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One of the tastiest applications of American cooking techniques is the chocolate cake. Deceptively simple, these confections can please small children and those with highly refined sensibilities. Chocolate can be bought as bars, gum, tic-tacs, jelly beans, cookies and cupcakes, but it is probably best known as a cake. For birthdays, weddings, wakes and graduations, the chocolate cake can be a cornerstone of the menu.

This recipe comes from the Silver Palate, a well-known NYC restaurant and grocery chain that has been feeding people in Manhattan and beyond since the 1980s.

Instructions:
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan. This means just rubbing a layer of butter over the whole pan, then scattering flour over it.

You need to chop your butter and chocolate into small pieces and place them in a large bowl, then pour a cup of boiling water over them, letting them slowly melt. Then stir in the vanilla and sugar and whisk in the egg yolks one at a time.

In a separate, small bowl, mix baking soda and sour cream, then whisk that into the chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder and then add it to the batter. This should be thoroughly mixed.

Then, you’ll need to beat the egg whites until they are “stiff but not dry.” In other words, they should be beaten with a whisk until they don’t slip when the bowl they are in is tilted. If they are overbeaten, they will start clumping. If underbeaten, they will take on the shape of the bowl too easily. Stir a quarter of the egg whites into the batter and fold in the rest.

Finally, pour the batter into the pan and set it on the center rack of the oven until a cake tester in the middle comes out clean (this will take between 40 and 50 minutes). Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then let it cool completely before it is frosted.

Pour the frosting ingredients into a heavy saucepan and let it sit there over low heat until it’s smooth, then spread it on the cake.